Meet Treasure Hunter and Pawn Shop Star Lauren Kaminsky

May 1, 2017byEmili Vesilind

With an unabashed love of all things gold and a flair for marketing, Lauren Kaminsky is giving the pawn business a good name

Real gold is real gold, even if you buy it in a pawnshop. That’s the message 28-year-old Lauren Kaminsky—who goes by the name Gold Girl on her popular blog, ByGoldGirl—conveys to would-be customers every day.

As chief operating officer and co-owner of EZ Pawn Corp., a chain of pawnshops with 14 locations in the New York City area, Kaminsky wants to reframe the public perception of pawnshops as depots for the down-and-out. Pawnshops, she contends, are also a bargain-filled resource for fine jewelry and luxury watch lovers.

“Secondhand gold jewelry gets polished and cleaned, and you can’t even tell that it’s ever been worn,” says Kaminsky, a third-­generation pawnbroker whose mission has been greatly aided by her glamorous second job: vintage jewelry curator for hip boutique restaurant Beauty & Essex, with locations in New York City, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. “It’s a buy that literally has no downsides.”

You grew up in your dad’s pawnshops, but how did you end up going into the business?I had no desire to enter the family business; I don’t think I even knew entirely what it was until I got my hands in it. My dad needed help because his business was growing so quickly. I came in fresh out of college, where I had learned all these cool marketing techniques. In the pawn world, advertising was nonexistent in 2010. Immediately, I organized charity events, we participated in every single type of walk, and I worked on all these innovative ways to get our name out there. We were the first pawnshop to do a subway campaign. My dad dressed up like Uncle Sam, which sounds goofy, but it worked. ­People still remember those ads.

A vintage collar from Beauty & Essex

How did the collaboration with Beauty & Essex begin?Right around when I started at the shops, Beauty & Essex was opening. You have to understand: I’m the friend who’s making reservations for the hot new restaurant two months in advance. I’m such a foodie. I will travel for good ­pizza! My friend came in with a flyer that said a restaurant/lounge/pawnshop was opening on the Lower East Side. I called them up and started asking all these questions—where’s your license? How are you doing pawn transactions after 7 p.m.? Eventually, they set up a meeting with my dad. He overslept for it! I was there and took the meeting in our Spanish Harlem store. They told me they wanted to create a pawnshop vibe, not an actual pawnshop.… We were all about to do the handshake on a deal, when my dad walks in. We were catching him up to speed and I can see in his eyes that he’s thinking, We’re going to need bulletproof glass. I watched ­everyone’s faces go from bliss to Oh my God, what’s happening? But I was not allowing for this! I told them, “He’s joking!” And they told him if they could ­partner with me, we had a deal. That’s how it happened.

How do you merchandise the Beauty & Essex selections?My niche has always been affordable gold jewelry. Gold is my thing. Growing up I was never allowed to buy name-brand sterling silver. I learned from a very young age that gold holds its value. One of the first experiences I had working in the pawnshop was a woman who came in to buy a gold chain for her son. He wanted a computer. And she said to him, “If you’re ever in trouble, this chain is what will get you out of it.” Having it is almost like having money.